Ping Pong (also known as Table Tennis) is an individual or pairs sport where players use small wooden paddles to volley a small plastic ball over a net attached to a table.

Ping pong is a sport that shrinks the sport of tennis and places it on a table. Competitors use small wooden paddles to hit a little white ball over a net. Thanks to a rubber coating on the paddles, players can put different kinds of spin and arch on the ball. Service alternates between players every 2 points. Play ends with a player reaches 11 points or more while leading the opposition by 2 points.

Score more points than the opponent by using a small wooden paddle to hit a ball over a small net.

Ping pong is played on a table measuring 9' x 5' and sits 30" off the ground. Play starts with one player serving to another. The ball must bounce on the server's side and cleanly clear the net to be a legal service. Players alternate serves every 2 points. Points are scored if the ball isn't returned, is hit off the table or bounces more than once. The first player to score 11 points or more while leading the opposition by 2 points is the winner.

Early versions of ping pong were played in England in the 1880's. Members of the upper class would recreate a game of tennis using ordinary household objects. By 1901 the game had spread to Europe, the United States and Japan, and was being played with equipment created for the sole purpose of playing ping pong. In 1926 the International Table Tennis Federation was established. The 1950's saw a series of advancements in equipment technology, which led to greater spin and speed in the game. In 1988 ping pong was introduced as an Olympic sport. Today ping pong is an extremely popular recreational and competitive game around the world.

Ball
Net
Racket
Table

Ping pong is a safe sport due to a lack of contact between players. Eye injuries and minor muscle strains can occur, but are rare.

Ping pong players must have excellent vision, instincts and hand-eye coordination. These can be developed through extensive practice of other paddle and racquet sports.

Penhold - a way to grip the paddle similar to the way one holds a writing instrument

Shakehand - a way to grip the paddle similar to the way one performs a handshake; sometimes know as the "Western grip" due to its popularity in Western nations

Smash - type of shot characterized by a large backswing and rapid acceleration designed to impart as much speed as possible on the ball; usually executed when an opponent has returned a ball that bounces too high and/or too close to the net

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis